Full Lecture Transcript (Cleaned)
Introduction and the Question — 0:00
Brother Ahmed from our own community asks — he came to me personally, so this is a question not from email but from our own community. He says that of late, more and more Muslim families are beginning to acquire dogs as pets, and they say that it is allowed in some schools of law. So is this true, and is there any concession? He asks: how do we answer when our children say, "Why would the Sharia prohibit a cute little puppy?"
The Cultural Dimension — 1:01
No doubt this is a very interesting question. It also shows us the differences of cultures, because I speak for most of us above the age of 30-35 — we are accustomed culturally to look down upon dogs. I have never in my life wanted to touch a dog, never wanted to pet a dog. Every time I see a dog, I turn around and go the other way. But our own children are saying they're the cutest creatures. "Why can't we have puppies?" It's a cultural difference that we need to take into consideration.
Now, there's no doubt that culture sometimes plays a role. One of the maxims of fiqh is that custom ('urf) plays a role — but culture only plays a role where the Sharia is silent. When the Sharia has explicit matters, then culture is put aside.
Classical Books About Dogs — 3:00
A number of books were written in our tradition about dogs. One of them has been translated to English — written by one of the judges of ancient Baghdad, Ibn al-Marzuban, entitled "The Superiority of Dogs Over Many of Those Who Wear Clothes." The story of this book is actually very funny: he and his friend were lamenting — this was 300 Hijri, 1,000 years ago — how society had become corrupted. His friend remarked, "I think some dogs are better than some men," and to prove it he wrote an entire book. He argued that dogs are loyal, dogs are happy with very little, even if you're angry with a dog he'll forgive you.
He quotes various scholars: "If your dog wags his tail at you, you can be sure that his tail-wagging is genuine. But do not trust the tail-wagging of people — many who tail-wag at you are in fact treacherous in their hearts." Al-Sha'bi, the great scholar (d. 103 AH), said: "The dog's best characteristic is that he is never hypocritical. When he loves you, he's real — unlike people." Ibn Abbas said: "A trustworthy dog is better than a deceitful man."
Another famous book was written by Abd al-Hadi of the Hanbali school (d. 902 AH) — a 300-page book called "The Interesting Rulings About Dogs," containing 100 rules. Rule number 72: "If a person's dog defecates on the path, the owner of the dog is obliged to pick it up." So poop bags — we can prove this from Abd al-Hadi!
Dogs in the Quran — 6:29
The Quran mentions dogs in three places:
1. The People of the Cave (factual/neutral): The people of the cave had a dog — a guard dog sitting outside the cave. If somebody says, "Aha, Allah mentioned the dog of the people of the cave, this shows having a dog is halal" — the response is: the people of the cave are not prophets, and they are from a previous generation. The law of the previous generation is not something our Sharia necessarily endorses or opposes — it's neutral until we find evidence in our own Sharia. But it does show that dogs were domesticated by people for many millennia. Archaeologists know that dogs are among the earliest domesticated animals, with remains of civilizations with dogs going back 15,000 years.
2. The Parable of the Dog (somewhat negative): "His example is like that of the dog — whether you shoo him away or whether you don't, in both cases his tongue is going to be hanging out and he's going to be panting." Allah is comparing the one who rejects truth to this — it's not a very positive connotation.
3. Trained Hunting Animals (positive): "They ask you what is permissible for them in food. All good food is permitted for you, and it is also allowed for you to eat all that your beasts of hunting catch — such as dogs and falcons — you have trained these animals from the knowledge Allah has given you." The fact that we are able to train dogs, Allah says, is a knowledge and a blessing. The Quran explicitly allows hunting dogs, and if we're allowed to own hunting dogs and Allah praises the fact that we have taught them, then it is halal to train dogs — which takes years of close physical interaction with the animal.
The Najasah (Impurity) of the Dog — 12:28
Two main issues from the hadith: the najasah of the dog, and the ruling on owning a dog — and the two are not the same. Something can be najis but you can still have it or own it.
All of these opinions center around the famous hadith in Bukhari and Muslim: "If a dog slurps water in one of your containers, then you must wash that container seven times, the first time with sand (turab)." Our scholars say the meaning of seven and turab is extra washing — in our times, if you use soap or put it in the washing machine, it does the job. The point is an extra, severe scrubbing.
Opinion 1: Shafi'i and Hanbali — The Entire Dog Is Najis — 13:35
The Shafi'i school and the default of the Hanbali school say: if the saliva of the dog is najis by this hadith, then clearly the entire dog has a special ruling and is najis — the body, the fur, the saliva, everything. If a dog brushes against your pant, you are not allowed to pray in that pant until you give it a severe wash.
Opinion 2: Hanafi and Ibn Taymiyyah — Only the Saliva Is Najis — 14:32
The Hanafi school (Abu Hanifa's explicit position) and the position of Ibn Taymiyyah say: what is najis is the saliva of the dog and only the saliva. The fur and the body are not najis. If a dog brushes against you, you don't have to do anything — you can pray in that cloth. But if the dog licks you or your pant, you cannot pray until you wash.
Ibn Taymiyyah writes (volume 21, page 530): "The fur of the dog is pure and its saliva is najis. This is the madhhab of Abu Hanifa, it is one of the opinions of Imam Ahmad, and it is the most correct opinion. If a person's garment touches the body of the dog, even if it is moist with sweat, it doesn't become najis."
Opinion 3: Maliki — The Dog Is Not Najis At All — 16:10
The Maliki school says nothing of the dog is najis — not the fur, not the saliva, nothing.
How do they respond to the hadith about washing seven times? Shaykh Saad al-Kithlan (a famous Moroccan scholar) gives four responses from the Maliki tradition:
1. Washing does not necessarily mean something is najis. We wash things we find disgusting — like mucus, which is not najis by unanimous consensus but we still wash it if we find it.
2. By explicit Quranic testimony, the trained dog hunts with its mouth. Its mouth has saliva that gets on the animal, yet the Sharia did not problematize that — we don't find any text saying you must wash the prey seven times. If you say bismillah when sending the dog, the caught animal is halal.
3. In Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim, Aisha narrated that dogs would come in and out of the Masjid of the Prophet and no one would do anything about it. This might shock many of us, but we have to understand rural Madinah — it was very primitive, with open structures. Ibn Abd al-Barr (a great hadith scholar) said: the fact that dogs would come and go from the Masjid means they were touching things, sniffing everywhere, drinking water, and eating leftover foods — because the Masjid was a sleeping place for strangers and delegations. If dogs were impure, they would have been prevented from entering, because Muslims unanimously agree you cannot allow najasah in the Masjid knowingly.
4. The fact that the Prophet said to wash it seven times with sand clearly indicates this is not because of ordinary najasah — because which is more disgusting, human excrement and menstrual blood, or dog saliva? It is the former, yet we don't have to wash vessels seven times with sand for those. Ibn Rushd (the famous Maliki philosopher-jurist) wrote that this must be for a medical/hygienic reason — related to bacteria — not because of ritual impurity.
The Ruling on Owning a Dog — 22:58
Two hadith are used to discuss this issue:
Hadith 1: "Whoever takes a dog, except for agriculture, hunting, or protection, shall have his good deeds diminished by a certain amount (qirat) every day."
Hadith 2: The Prophet was waiting for Jibril to come one day. When Jibril didn't come, the Prophet went outside and found Jibril waiting. Jibril said: "There is a dog in your house, and we do not enter houses that have dogs in them." They found a puppy under the bed and removed it.
Dogs for a Purpose — Unanimous Consensus — 24:40
By unanimous consensus, even the strictest scholars who say the dog is najis allow these three types of dogs: a dog for agriculture, a dog for hunting, and a guard dog. The Quran explicitly allows hunting dogs. Note that a hunting dog can also be for pleasure — not just survival. Most people who have hunting dogs might do it for recreation, and Allah allows it.
The vast majority of scholars said anything that is reasonable and analogous to these three should also be allowed. Ibn Taymiyyah said: "If there is a benefit (maslaha) to having a dog that is other than these three, that benefit qualifies it." This is not a darurah (necessity where you cannot live without it) — it's a hajah (a benefit that makes life easier).
From this we can extrapolate: a seeing-eye dog is halal without question. Emotional support and therapy dogs are also permissible — if you're allowed to have a dog for luxury hunting, clearly you can have one when you're experiencing PTSD, hyperventilation, or emotional difficulty. Some people who are mentally or emotionally impaired need these animals for stability and comfort. This must be completely permissible.
The Maliki Position on Dogs Without a Specific Need — 28:30
The default of the Hanafi, Shafi'i, and Hanbali schools is that a dog is only allowed for hajah — something you need, but not life-and-death. In the Maliki school, they lowered the bar more than the other schools.
Ibn Abd al-Barr (d. 463 AH) — one of the great giants every scholar knows and every Maliki loves — wrote the most voluminous commentary of Imam Malik's Muwatta' (in 25 volumes). He writes that this hadith implies it is allowed to own a dog for all types of benefits — whatever is going to be of benefit, you may own the dog. If there is no benefit, then it is merely makruh (disliked, not haram).
He writes: "I do not think there is the slightest problem with owning a dog for benefit, because people have been owning dogs generation after generation in every single land and in every single region as far as we know. Throughout these lands and regions, scholars have seen this and they did not prevent them from doing so, nor did they go to the sultans and stop them, even though they had the power to do so." However, he adds: "I do not like that a person own a dog except for a legitimate reason" — meaning he considers it makruh without a reason.
The "Angels Do Not Enter" Hadith — 30:42
What about the hadith that angels do not enter a house with a dog?
Ibn Hibban — one of the original compilers of hadith collections and a great hadith scholar — interprets this hadith as being specific to the house of the Prophet, where revelation (wahy) comes down. He argues it is about Jibril specifically, not all angels, because it is impossible that the kiraman katibin (the recording angels) would not be with people who have dogs — they are always with people.
He also brings another hadith: "Any caravan that has dogs or bells will not have angels with it" — and he says this refers to the caravan of the Prophet specifically, because every caravan of that era had dogs, and it is impossible that angels would abandon all caravans.
Ibn Abd al-Barr comments: "As for the hadith that the angels do not enter the house where there is a dog — this, Allah knows best, is why the Prophet himself did not like having a dog in his house. And some have said this is specific to Jibril and the Prophet."
Other scholars point out that even if we apply this hadith to all houses, the maximum one can derive is that the angels do not like this animal — but you cannot extract from it that the thing is haram. For example, the angels do not like any strong odor such as garlic — is garlic haram? No.
The Majority vs. Minority Position — 33:00
Ibn Abd al-Barr and a prominent strand of Maliki (and broader Sunni) Islam hold this view. But to be factual, it is a minority opinion. The majority of the Ummah has said that these hadith mean it is sinful to have a dog without a hajah. According to the majority opinion, to play with an animal purely as a pet is not a hajah.
So the majority of the Ummah would not allow a dog purely as a pet just to play with. But a strand of the Maliki school would not find it problematic — some might say it is makruh, and makruh does not imply sin. It means "best to avoid." This is why some Muslim cultures have permitted this and others have shut the door.
Me personally, I think it is definitely best to avoid, simply because there are a number of hadith that are quite clear in this regard.
The Prophet's Temporary Command to Kill Dogs — 34:30
There is a hadith that at one point the Prophet commanded dogs to be killed wherever they were found, and then later he said: "Let them be." Ibn Abd al-Barr interprets this: the initial command was because Jibril refused to come into the house — so the Prophet, on his own accord, wanted to get rid of them. Then Allah told him he should not do that, because "dogs are one of the umam (communities of creation)" — so he cannot command them all to be killed. This hadith indicates the Prophet was not allowed to carry out such a command.
Practical Rulings: Dog Saliva and Prayer — 35:30
Because the majority opinion is that dog saliva is najis, even if you have a dog for a legitimate purpose (hajah), you must make sure you have an area in your house that the dogs do not enter so that you can pray there. If the dog licks you — because in my opinion, dog saliva is najis — you cannot pray until you change your clothes or wash whatever it has licked. But just because dog saliva is najis does not mean the Sharia has told us to be harsh or mean to dogs.
Being Kind to Dogs — A Path to Jannah — 36:30
On the contrary, people have entered Jannah by being kind to dogs. We conclude on this famous hadith that we all know: Allah forgave a prostitute for her kindness to a dog.
She was walking in a land and became very thirsty. She saw a well, went down and drank from the water. She came out and found a dog so thirsty it was licking the dirt outside the well to get some moisture. She felt pity on the dog and said to herself: "This dog has felt just as thirsty as I was." She went back into the well, filled her shoe with water — she had nothing else — put the shoe in her mouth and climbed out to feed the dog.
The Prophet said: "Allah thanked her for that one deed and forgave her." One of the companions asked: "O Messenger of Allah, will we get reward for being kind to animals?" The Prophet said: "Yes, in every living creature there is reward."
This hadith shows us that we are not commanded to be nasty or mean or cruel to dogs. It is completely permissible to feed a stray dog or show it kindness. And if you ask me personally, even if you pet a dog — not that I'm encouraging it; personally I don't, it's just my culture — but if you want to do it, I don't think it is najis at all. What is najis is the saliva. And if we are kind and merciful, Allah will be kind and merciful to us.